Tag: champagne

Loads of fresh tangerine juice goes into this homemade sorbet (along with a couple of other special citrus-y ingredients) to make it the perfect upgrade to your morning mimosa.

When I say these are THE Freshest Tangerine Sorbet Mimosas, I mean these tangerines came off the tree that sits about 30 feet from my front door and were squeezed less than 10 minutes after they were picked. They’re THAT fresh. But hey, I’m not here to throw shade at anyone that may not have a plethora of fresh citrus at the ready – we’re in the throes of winter now, folks, and there’s no better time to snatch up all of the fresh tangerines and lemons you can find and throw them together to make some delicious Tangerine Sorbet Mimosas just in time for New Year’s!

Let’s back up for a quick second, though, because I need to know: when it comes to frozen desserts, are you Team Sorbet or Team Ice Cream? Taken in their purest forms, I’m an ice cream fan all the way. There’s just something about that rich dairy flavor that I find myself leaning towards if ever given the choice between the two. But throw a good bottle of bubbly in the mix? I’ll be Team Sorbet all day, every day.

I mean, sure, you can make and enjoy this Tangerine Sorbet all on its own, but if I have some sitting in my freezer you can pretty much bet the only way I’ll be enjoying it is at the bottom of a champagne flute.

So, the first step in making THE Freshest Tangerine Sorbet Mimosas is – quite obviously – making the Tangerine Sorbet out of the best, freshest tangerines you can find. If you’re familiar with the whole ice cream making process, the rest will be a piece of cake. You’ll need an ice cream maker of some sort, and a saucepan, but that’s about it. Oh, and to really up the citrus factor, we’re also adding in some fresh lemon juice and Grand Marnier.

Another incredibly important thing to note – you need to start this Tangerine Sorbet process at least the night before your planning to enjoy your ever-so-fancy mimosas. I tell you this now because I care for each and every one of you way too much to have you start this entire process one or two hours before you’re ready to throw your mimosas back, only to be met with soupy sludgy tangerine syrup. Hey, today is Friday and we still have plenty of time before New Year’s to get this going, so don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Once the Tangerine Sorbet is at its icy, frosty peak, you’re ready to mimosa it (yep, just made that a verb.) Take your favorite bottle of mimosa bubbles, pour some of it on top of your FRESH Tangerine Sorbet and – voila – you’re ready to enjoy THE Freshest Tangerine Sorbet Mimosa you ever did sip on.

You likely already have plans for New Year’s, but you better add some Tangerine Sorbet Mimosas to those plans ASAP.

I may or may not be lying when I tell you I own two “Mornings are for Mimosas” shirts, one “I Sweat Champagne” shirt, and have recently (as of oh, two and a half weeks ago) retired my “Pop the Bubbly I’m Getting a Hubby” shirt. Totally normal, right?

Well, what SHOULD be totally normal is making Champagne Roast Chicken with Grapes and Shallots at least once a week for the foreseeable future. It’s still “fresh” enough to be considered a summer meal (if you have A/C and can afford to turn on your oven for significant amounts of time, that is) yet also “homey” enough to carry us through the fall. Because that’s what the month of August is all about, right? Figuring out how in the world we’re going to transition from long days at the beach, sandy hair and tan lines to earlier sunsets, cooler weather and back-to-school duties?

To be completely honest, I decided to make a roast chicken because I was in desperate need of some more homemade chicken stock. My freezer stash was at almost zero Tupperwares and I have become such a snob that, no, I do not want to just go to the store and buy a can or carton of the pre-made stuff. No siree, said this snobby food blogger, only the real deal for our household.

Speaking of homemade chicken stock (allow me to digress a bit)…Have you ever made your own? Let me tell you, if you haven’t, you are REALLY missing out. All you need is a slow cooker (I suppose a large pot on the stove would work as well, it just requires more babysitting), some chicken bones and whatever aromatic herbs and vegetables you have sitting in your refrigerator drawers (I often use onions or shallots, celery and carrots if I have them, and whatever fresh herbs I have on hand.) Oh, and water of course. Throw everything together in your pot and simmer away for eight or so hours and, voila! You have homemade chicken stock to stash in your freezer to use at any moment’s notice.

Okay, so I knew I needed to make a roast chicken, I had this fancy new roasting pan to break in (yay for wedding gifts!), and now I needed to figure out what I wanted to do with said roast chicken. My usual go-to roast chicken recipe is the Engagement Chicken from Glamour Magazine (have you tried it yet? Whether you’re hoping to become engaged or not, you most definitely should give it a shot.) But this time around, I wanted to do a little something to make it my own.

I started thinking about a turkey recipe I’d made before that used apple cider, which for some reason then made my mind wander to sparkling wine (see notes above on my slight obsession.) I figured the acidity and citrus-like flavors in the sparkling wine would pair beautifully with that comforting, savory flavor you get whenever you roast poultry. I also wanted to add some “accessories” if you will, so I decided to throw in some green grapes and big chunks of shallots to roast along with the chicken. Drippy, champagne-y gravy from roast chicken, meet grapes and shallots — heaven!!!

So, using my new ideas for this Champagne Roast Chicken with Grapes and Shallots, I still basically followed the directions for Engagement Chicken, because why mess up something that is so right? We simply pour the champagne/sparkling wine all over the little chick, stuff it with lemons AND oranges, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and pop it in the oven. There’s a little flip of the bird about 15 minutes into cooking, and then we add the grapes and shallots for about the last 15 minutes, but other than that, you set it and forget it!

I used a 6-pound bird, but you can toy around with that or just use whatever size they have at the store (I got my roaster at Costco.) Just remember to allow about 20 minutes of cooking time per pound of bird, plus an additional 15 minutes at the end. After the first hour-and-a-half to two hours, just check the temperature every so often. You’ll want it to read 180 degrees before you pull the bird out of the oven.

Last note before I leave you with this amaze-balls recipe for Champagne Roast Chicken with Grapes and Shallots: Whatever you do, DO NOT DITCH THE GRAVY. Now, I guess I can’t really call it “gravy,” because I did not thicken it, separate it, what have you. I simply poured the juices from the bottom of the roasting pan into a gravy boat and then the hubs and I drizzled it over our chicken before we ate it. Soooooo delicious!!!! Don’t miss it. Please.

And that’s that! Pretty dang easy for such a beautiful-looking dish, don’t you think?

Remove innards from chicken and rinse with cold water. Let drain in a large colander for 2 minutes.

Pat chicken dry and place in roasting pan, breast side down. Pour champagne/sparkling wine all over and inside the chicken. Do the same with the orange and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the juiced orange and lemon halves, their unjuiced other halves, plus the additional lemon, and stuff inside the chicken. Prick the whole lemon a few times with a fork before stuffing it to help release the juices inside the chicken.

Place chicken in oven and turn down heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roast, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Remove chicken from oven and, using tongs or wooden spoons, flip chicken over so that the breast side is now facing up.

Return to oven and continue cooking until a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Start checking the temperature after about an hour and a half. For the last 10-15 minutes of cooking, add shallots and grapes to bottom of roasting pan.

Once meat thermometer reads 180 degrees Fahrenheit, remove from oven. Transfer grapes and shallots to a serving platter first, and then transfer chicken so it sits in the middle of the grapes and shallots. Garnish with fresh sage and thyme sprigs. Use a carving fork and knife to serve.

Recipe Notes

Wine Pairing Note: When a recipe involves wine, one of the most natural pairings will always be more of the same wine! That being said, I’d highly recommend that you just serve up the rest of whatever bottle of sparkling wine or champagne you use for the chicken. You could also pair a lovely chardonnay that is either partially oaked or not oaked at all, as you want some acidity to pair with the citrus flavors in the bird and the herbs garnishing it.

In honor of it being my Bachelorette Party weekend, today I thought it would be fun to share two fun ways to make Pink Champagne Cocktails. Pink + champagne = two of my favorite things, so of course I wanted to give you TWO ways to enjoy them! (And it’s no secret that sparkling wine cocktails are my jam, as evidenced by Exhibits A, B and C.)

But before I get to these delicious cocktails, I just have to say that I am soooo excited to be on the road and headed to beautiful, sunny Palm Springs with thirteen of my closest gal pals to soak up the sun and celebrate some of my last days of “single-dom.” I know that Bachelorette Parties are supposed to be wild and racy, but let’s be real here, I’m 31 years old (most of my friends are around that age as well) so I think what we are all most looking forward to is a weekend of relaxing and enjoying some quality time together. I feel so honored that some of my gals are coming from faraway lands such as Hawaii, Nebraska and Texas just to celebrate with me! I really am so lucky to have such amazing ladies in my life 🙂

So, enough of the mushy stuff, something I know we will absolutely be doing this weekend is enjoying plenty of these Pink Champagne Cocktails. Honestly, if asked, I really wouldn’t be able to choose my favorite between the two. They are just so different!

For the first Pink Champagne Cocktail, I whipped up a batch of Strawberry-Rhubarb Syrup very closely based off of this one that my gal Deb made over at Smitten Kitchen (love her stuff, and if you aren’t already following her you most definitely should be), but of course I had to throw in my own little twist. I also made a slightly smaller batch since I knew I’d be making a second, different (but just as festive) Pink Champagne Cocktail as well.

[Also, side note, I definitely saved all of the strawberry and rhubarb “mush” that was leftover after straining with all intentions of scooping it all over French Vanilla ice cream. I haven’t gotten to it yet, but I’ll let you know how that goes.]

The secret ingredient I added to the already-delicious syrup recipe from Smitten Kitchen was a few dashes of rosewater. Amazing! This added a lovely hint of floral to an already incredibly tasty concoction. And if you don’t know where to find rosewater, allow me to help you out and give you this handy-dandy link to Amazon. Problem –> solved.

For the second Pink Champagne Cocktail, I was dreaming up some sort of pink lemonade version. And what do you know, when I stepped into Trader Joe’s to do my weekly blog shopping, they had none other than PINK lemons. That’s right. They look very similar to regular lemons on the outside, but once you cut into them the flesh (and juice) have a light pinkish-orange hue. Did you know these even existed? According to the super-knowledgeable TJ’s checker, pink lemons are actually MORE common throughout the world than what we know as the standard yellow lemons. Apparently they’re just not THAT common in the U.S. We learn something new every day, don’t we? Thank you for that lovely nugget, Trader Joe’s checkout man.

So for this Pink Champagne Cocktail, I basically made a Pink Lemon Simple Syrup. Now, if you can’t find above-mentioned pink lemons, have no fear. The pink lemon juice didn’t end up coloring my simple syrup THAT much, so I added some of the syrup from a jar of Morello cherries. This worked beautifully, but if you have trouble finding the Morello cherries in syrup, you could easily use store-bought cherry juice or even pomegranate juice. Just be sure to taste the syrup and make sure it has the proper amount of sweetness (adding more sugar if needed) as the juices will undoubtedly be more tart than Morello cherry syrup.

That’s it in a nutshell! Be sure to leave time to allow both syrups to cool to at least room temperature, and for even tastier results, give them some time to chill in the refrigerator before adding to your sparkling wine. I found that a good ratio was about 2 ounces of syrup to 4-6 ounces of sparkling wine, but feel free to play around with that and adjust the ratio to your (or your guests’) tastes.

Two fun versions of Pink Champagne Cocktails using Strawberry-Rhubarb-Rosewater and Pink Lemonade Syrups!

Ingredients

Strawberry-Rhubarb-Rosewater Syrup (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

½poundstrawberrieshulled and sliced in half

½poundrhubarbcut into one-inch pieces

½cupsugar

1tablespoonrosewater

Juice of ½ a lemon

Pink Lemonade Simple Syrup

1cupsugar

1cupwater

2/3cuppink lemon juiceor regular lemon juice

1tablespoonMorello cherry syrupor cherry or pomegranate juice*

Other:

Sparkling wine

Instructions

To make the Strawberry-Rhubarb-Rosewater Syrup:

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Allow to cook for 10-15 minutes, or until fruit is cooked and mushy and juices have released. Allow to cool slightly and then strain through a sieve. Allow to cool completely and then keep in a glass container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To make the Pink Lemonade Simple Syrup:

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved, about 5-10 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in Morello cherry syrup. Allow to cool completely and then keep in a glass container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To make either Pink Champagne Cocktail:

Pour two ounces of either syrup into a champagne flute. Slowly top off with sparkling wine. It’s very important that you add this slowly. If you add it too quickly, the glass will easily overflow and you know we can’t have you losing any of this cocktail to the kitchen floor.

What does everyone have planned for tonight? Are you going out on the town or keeping it low key at home?

The fiancé and I are keeping it REALLY low key this year. He’s been down and out with a nasty cold this whole week, and we’ve kind of gotten over “going out” downtown and spending ridiculous amounts of money in cover charges and cocktails. We’d rather just make some tasty cocktails and cook a delicious dinner at home.

I’ve been seeing so many great, festive cocktail recipes floating around the interwebs this week, so I wanted to add one of my own. One of my absolute favorite sparkling wine cocktails (besides the Lychee Lightning of course) is the French 75. I just think it is so refreshing and isn’t so overwhelmingly sweet that you have to stop at just one. It is so much a favorite of mine, in fact, that it is going to be one of our signature cocktails at our wedding in July!

I knew I wanted to share a sparkling wine cocktail with you today because, after all, isn’t that THE number one beverage to celebrate New Year’s Eve with? (I mean, I celebrate every weekend with it but who’s to say I’m of the norm.)

I’m going to wait until closer to our wedding day to share our favorite, perfected (at least to our tastes) French 75 recipe, but for now I figured I’d leave you with a fun twist. I love the tartness and acidity that the lemon lends to the original version of this cocktail, so in order to match that I reached for some fresh grapefruit juice. This is really the main difference between the Greyhound 75 and the French 75, just swapping out the juices!

I used some pre-made simple syrup we had on hand, but you can also very easily make your own. The simple recipe is one part sugar to one part water. So, depending on how much you want to make, you could do something like one cup sugar and one cup water. Then you simply bring the combo to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves, or the mixture becomes syrupy. You can also store extra in an airtight container in the refrigerator for quite some time.

Other than the fresh grapefruit and the simple syrup, you’ll just need some gin and some sparkling wine! Simple as that. I’m really having fun coming up with these combinations using what I have on hand in the kitchen, and I hope that you’re enjoying them as well, especially if you don’t have a fully stocked bar in your house! (And if you do, can I come over? I’ll bring the snacks.)

Please respond in the comments if there’s a particular liquor or recipe you want me to use for one of these weekly posts. I’d love to hear your ideas!

Finally, as this will be my last post for 2015, I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you that has supported me thus far and encouraged me to get this blog off the ground. It is something I have been passionate about for a while and all of your support has helped push me to pursue my dreams, even when I have a steady “9-to-5” and could easily settle into that comfortability.

I’m REALLY looking forward to a successful 2016, and I know there are so many great things in store for all of us. Cheers to all of you!

A festive and delicious cocktail recipe combining the traditional ingredients of a Greyhound and a French 75.

Ingredients

1ouncegin

½ouncesimple syrup

4ouncessparkling wine

1ouncefresh grapefruit juice

Twist of grapefruit *

Instructions

Pour gin and simple syrup into champagne flute. Add sparkling wine and then top with grapefruit juice. Garnish with twist of grapefruit.

Recipe Notes

*To make the grapefruit twist, I simply took a vegetable peeler and peeled about a 3-inch long piece of the grapefruit rind. Give the peel a little twist and drop it in your cocktail for a little extra hit of that grapefruit flavor!

I’ve missed you. Seriously. If you’ve found me on Instagram or Facebook, then you know I’m still alive. If you haven’t found me in either of these places (yet), I’m sorry if I’ve been worrying you.

Although I haven’t been posting lately, I have still been working on this here blog and basically trying to teach myself as I go along. I must not be as computer-savvy as I thought because it took me (not kidding) multiple hours to figure out how to even create my own header!! Please tell me I’m not the only one with this problem? And if any of you out there have any words of wisdom you would like to share, I’m all ears! Blogger friends please help. We can discuss over mimosas?

Guys, I am REALLY excited to share this recipe with you. It is super easy and super delicious AND…my dad came up with this idea. There, I said it. But it only seems fitting to give him due credit because he is, after all, the main gene source for my culinary creativity. That man is amazing.

Have you guys ever heard of a Harvey Wallbanger? I’m pretty sure it had it’s heyday back in like, the 70’s (I only say this because my aunt has some pretty funny stories about enjoying these when she was younger, but we’ll have to save those for later.) I myself became familiar with the drink in the form of a deliciously boozy bundt cake my mom made growing up, complete with all of the famous cocktail’s ingredients. I know technically the booze bakes out of the cake in the process but just the glaze itself had plenty of a kick! I guess I developed my taste for delicious cocktails early on 😉

Anyhow, Chris and I headed up to my parents’ house in Santa Cruz the other weekend for a belated Easter celebration (I had to work on the actual holiday…boooo) and of course, being the family that we are, we had to start “Easter” morning with mimosas. So as we’re standing there chatting, enjoying the first few sips, my dad pipes up and says “I wonder what a Harvey Wallbanger Mimosa would taste like?” He then proceeds to go grab the Galliano out of the liquor cabinet and let’s just say it didn’t take us long to realize that this was a REALLY good thing.

A traditional Harvey Wallbanger is made with vodka, Galliano and orange juice. We just swapped the vodka for sparkling wine and, voila! The Harvey Wallbanger Mimosa was born.

A couple of tips for this drink in particular as well as bubbly opening/pouring/drinking in general:

When opening a bottle of bubbles, remove the foil but be sure to leave the cage on the cork. This is an extra safety measure but many people don’t know about it.

Once you have removed the foil, you want to slowly twist the bottle with one hand while holding the cork with the other hand. The goal is not, as many people think, to open the bottle with a huge POP. In Sommelier training, you are told that the opening of the bottle should be “no louder than a nun’s fart in church.” Bet you didn’t know that, huh?

Our favorite “house” sparkling wine is a cava (Spanish sparkling wine) called Segura Viudas Brut Reserva. We usually get about two cases of this at a time (we have some connections) but each bottle is under $10 apiece. A great deal for everyday bubbles!

When pouring the bubbly into your glass for this cocktail, do so slowly, while tilting the glass. This will help prevent a “bubble over.” These bubbles are not to be wasted!

Hi, I'm Robin! A passionate foodie, I love creating (mostly) balanced recipes while still allowing plenty of room for life’s little indulgences. I believe that with a focus on whole, minimally processed foods, there's no need for severe diets or restrictions. Thanks for reading my blog….I look forward to getting to know you!